Hudson students refine Portuguese language skills through summer program

Jeff Malachowski Daily News Staff @JMalachowskiMW

Thursday

Jul 12, 2018 at 7:07 PMJul 17, 2018 at 4:17 PM

More than 40 Hudson students are upgrading their Portuguese language skills through the Startalk program. The district received a $90K grant to run the program.

HUDSON – Valerie Lortie’s motivation for attending the three-week Startalk summer camp for the second straight year is simple.

Valerie's mother is from Brazil and though she speaks fluent English, her first language is Portuguese.

“I would like to speak with her in her native language,” said Valerie, who will enter the sixth grade this fall. “It’s a really good environment to learn to speak Portuguese.”

Thanks to a $90,000 grant from the National Security Agency, more than 40 Hudson students in grades three, four and five are refining their Portuguese language skills and learning more about the Portuguese and Brazilian cultures through the Startalk program.

Students in Hudson Public Schools can begin taking Portuguese in grade five, so the program gives them a head start, said Ana Pimentel, world language coordinator.

“We want to catch them and let them know the culture and language before they start it in school,” she said. "We are very lucky to have a well-established Portuguese program."

Three different programs are offered – two for novices and one for those who speak some Portuguese. The students are in the second of three weeks of the program.

The grant was offered to just five schools across the country, said Pimentel, a native of Portugal.

For six hours a day, students learn Portuguese through games, reading and writing. The grant requires teachers and students to speak Portuguese 90 percent of the time while in the program.

Pimentel and the other instructors also focus on Portuguese and Brazilian cultural traditions.

“It’s impossible to learn a language without learning the culture,” she said.

For many students, Startalk has helped them connect – or reconnect – with the language and cultural traditions of their parents and grandparents. Hudson has a robust Portuguese population, said Pimentel.

“Portuguese is the second language of this community,” she said.

Gabriela Siruge, who recently completed fifth grade, took the course so she could speak with her parents in Portuguese. Her parents often speak the language at home, but Gabriela normally responds in English.

Brianna Ouelette is taking the camp for the second time and said her Portuguese is improving vastly. A year ago she was only able to put together a few words, such as “arroz bom,” which means rice, good. Now, she is able read, write and speak full sentences in Portuguese.

“It’s so fun,” said Brianna.

Learning more about the Brazilian culture was the biggest draw for Carolina Avelar.

“I saw the views and I need to go there because it’s beautiful,” she said.

The soon-to-be fourth-grader was born in Portugal and moved to the United States when she was 4. Carolina learned English while listening to music in Portugal.

"All the time I hear about Portugal at my house," said Carolina. "I have to talk better Portuguese because my grandparents only talk Portuguese."

Jeff Malachowski can be reached at 508-490-7466 or jmalachowski@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JmalachowskiMW.